写作unit 4

1 Unit Four The Paragraph (1) The Major Elements of a Good Paragraph

The paragraph is a part of a piece of writing started on a new line. It can be as short as one sentence or as long as dozens of sentences. A paragraph usually deals with one thing, event or idea. Normally, a good paragraph requires the qualities of unity, coherence, focus, completeness and brevity.

段落是篇章的基础，通常由数个句子组成，有时也可能只是一句话。段落的总体质量取决于作者的构思和组织能力。内容充实完整，句与句之间具有统一性和连贯性是写好段落的重要标准。

1. Unity (统一性) Unity（统一性）is the most important quality of a good paragraph. A paragraph is considered to have unity when it has only one fundamental purpose. A paragraph with sentences that are not related to the main idea will confuse the reader. The following are examples of well-written paragraphs:

(1) Television is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also a comparatively cheap one. With a TV set in the family, people don’t have to pay for expensive seats at the theatre, the movies, or the opera. All they have to do is to push a button or turn on a knob, and they can see plays, films, operas and shows of every kind.

The two paragraphs share the same character--unity. Example (1) is about the convenience and cheapness of television. It discusses only the things that are related to the main idea. On the other hand, a paragraph without the quality of unity may look like a heap of irrelevant objects. For example:

(3) In winter we are faced with the problem of keeping comfortably warm both

indoors and out. The solution of this problem involves what we call the conservation of heat. In summer the situation is reversed, although the problem of keeping cool also means the control of heat in its proper place. 2

All our means of transportation and communication depend upon some forms of heat engines. In fact, we may think of our own bodies as heat engines and the food we eat as fuel to keep us warm and to supply the needed mechanical energy. We shall see that the discoveries in this field of physics have already produced tremendous changes in our everyday life. We need only to think of the part the automobile plays in everyday affairs to realise this.

These paragraphs are rather confusing, because they contain so many ideas that it is impossible to tell their main ideas. Example (3) would be much better if it were divide into two paragraphs, with the first three sentences forming one paragraph, and the rest another one. Example (4a) is a typical business letter of complaint about the loss of conference materials. The whole “paragraph” is a mixture of ideas. To make it more comprehensible, we can divide it into three paragraphs, each with a main idea:

Models: A. The book has been written for two kinds of readers: students taking an initial course in

SLA (second language acquisition) who want an overview of the current state of the art in SLA studies, and teachers who want to improve their understanding of how learners learn a second language.

初学写作的学生在构思段落的总体结构前，应先考虑段落的内容问题。一个好的段落通常只有一个中心思想。段落的统一性便体现在段落中有这么一个中心思想来统帅全段内容，段落中的其它句子则都应围绕这一主题，一切与段落无直接关系的句子都须删除。

II. Rearrange the following groups of sentences to form effective

paragraphs.

Part A 1. She was eyed with suspicion as she examined the goods on display. 2. The next day she went back, dressed to kill, smelling of expensive perfume. 3. The assistant politely told her that checks were not accepted for goods of $2 or under. 4. When she finally decided on a small purchase, she said she had forgotten to bring 3

enough money with her and she would like to pay by check. 5. She selected an even cheaper article, told the same story and her check was accepted without question. 6. One day a journalist, dressed in her shabby clothes, went into an extremely expensive department store

Part B 1. To an observer on earth, the sun seems to move farther and farther away from the equator to the north. 2. Thousands of years ago the ancient peoples found that days were longer in summer than in winter, and nights are shorter. 3. This day is the longest in the Northern Hemisphere. 4. Then the sun goes further south until December 22nd, when the day is the shortest in the year. 5. On June 21st, it seems to reach its furthest point north. 6. They knew this had a great deal to do with the changes of the seasons and the growth of plants and animals.

Part C 1. Most energy in the word today comes from burning oil, coal, and gas. 2. The energy will run out some day or other. 3. Many scientists believe that new ways of generating large amounts of energy will be successfully developed. 4. As the population increases rapidly and the standard of living in developed countries rises, more energy will be needed than ever before. 5. Fortunately, we’ll get much of our new energy from water, the sun, the wind and Hot Springs.